Jalsa Review: Break The Class Ceiling

Jalsa is a thriller film starring Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul. Directed by Suresh Triveni, the film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

General Rating

In a nut-shell:

Break The Class Ceiling

Like the ‘Winds of Change’ ads that a certain ceiling fans company used to put out where the house help joined the family at the dining table, the best part about director Suresh Triveni’s messily characterised drama is the seamless manner in which popular TV journalist Maya Menon (Vidya Balan) treats her cook Ruksana Mohammed (Shefali Shah) and her kids like a part of the family. It’s two birds with one stone since neither class nor faith create a divide.

But guilt does.

Triveni and fellow screenplay writer Prajwal Chandrashekar keep it simple without a clutter of characters. When Maya creates situations at the workplace, boss Amar Malhotra (Iqbal Khan) takes care of the frowns. At home, it’s her mother Rukmini (Rohini Hattangadi) who irons out the creases every time Maya is unreasonable with son Ayush (Surya Kasibhatla), a child with special needs, or with Ruksana who is the epitome of patience.

As is often the case with people who take it out on others, most of Maya’s temper bouts are because she’s seething at herself. 

If this review makes it sound like a terrific watch, Triveni and company manage to mess it up with lame storytelling.

The tone is set for a gripping drama when a young girl and boy are out on an isolated overbridge for a sneaky night of fun. But when the boy gets a little too cuddly, she runs. And thud. There’s an accident.

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At the TV station, Maya Menon has just upset retired Judge Gulati (Gurpal Singh) with her unprofessional line of questioning. Amar sorts it out, it’s a long day at work, Maya has a tiny drink with the boss, the cab ride cancels at the last minute, and she decides to drive herself home when her eyes are ready to shut. Thud. There’s an accident.

Now you know who was at the wheel when she shouldn’t have been. And the girl who was hit was Ruksana’s daughter Alia (Kashish Rizwan) who shouldn’t have been out at that time of the night. 

So what does Maya do?

She neither dials the police, the ambulance or anyone at home or at the office. She leaves the girl bleeding and flees. Amar is her sole confidante but only the next day.

Thus far, pretty good.

And then the screenplay convolutes itself. 

There’s CCTV footage at the accident site that a journalist (coincidentally Maya’s intern, like they are the only media people in the city) accesses. But seasoned policemen don’t see the footage and are on a different track. Why hardened cops sweat and want Ruksana to settle the issue isn’t convincing. Why they can’t access the footage like the journo did, has no answer. Why Maya Menon has an inexplicable change of heart has no dramatic turning point. Why there’s a track about an ex-husband (Manav Kaul) that has nothing to contribute to the main narrative may be explained only by Triveni.  

The attempt at a thrilling climax is as cold as ice cream but not as yummy. Maya may have unfeelingly fled but when the underdog is out with the handicapped child and she has a name like Ruksana, you know she’s going to be different from her employer. 

With such an obvious ending, Jalsa doesn’t have you gripping the edge of your seat. 

Vidya Balan’s pretty face and skilful performance can’t make up for what’s essentially an ill-written character.

So pfft! There goes another interesting premise.

Also Read: Radhe Shyam Movie Review

Watch Jalsa Trailer:

Break The Class CeilingJalsa Review: Break The Class Ceiling